Here’s a fascinating but sad interview with Sunny Murray, which includes a bizarre mention of a conspiracy against avant-garde jazz by no less than the American mafia. Hmmm. I shall have to research that a bit more.

I kid you not, I remember the days when people like Joe Lovano, Steve Lacy, John Scofield, Courtney Pine, and their ilk used to play the Saskatchewan Jazz Festival. I don’t know if the funding was cut, or the attendance died out, but this year’s schedule seems a little disappointing, considering what I remember. I was hoping for at least one big name show, something American perhaps. I mean, a big show by someone who colors a little outside the lines, that is. Wait, there’s Dave Holland. He’s alright. But Arturo Sandoval? Bonobo? And don’t even get me started about …

Okay, finally, a change of heart. Now I know I definitely need to live in Seoul someday. And to bring my saxophones. And to practice occasionally in the meantime. Why? Bulgasari.

The blog Honey, Where You Been So Long brings you Rufus Harley, Jazz Bagpiper. I swear I thought I was the only person in the world interested in this guy.

Here’s an interesting piece on copyright. If you ignore copyright laws and download content, then good content will cease to be created for you. This is the fundamental argument put forward by contributing editor Stephen Manes, in this month’s issue of PC World. Manes, a fixture of the highest level of technology journalism for the past two decades, says that “if the digital pirates win, we’ll all lose”. The article itself is probably meant to frighten moderate users of file-sharing applications and does not present any new arguments. In fact, it is full of assertions and straw man fallacies. I am …

Here’s the Amazon listing for Jazz and Death: Medical Profiles of Jazz Greats). I know, I know. I stumbled across the title when searching for books about piano voicings and just had to know more…

Where else but in South Korea can you see Chuck Mangione play to a pretty crowded house in a big performance venue (about the size of the usual orchestral symphony house in a smallish city)? Where else will people (not many, but even some) stand up and attempt to mount a standing ovation after Chuck plays the song “Feels So Good”? Only, only, only in South Korea. I’m so glad I talked Lime into coming. I wasn’t crazy about Chuck before, nor am I now, though I may try get my hands on some albums to give him another listen. But man, …

Columbia’s got an experiment going on about how people rate and choose to download music. I wish I could say that the free MP3s it offers are worth it, but I hated most of the songs, which often sound like stereotypical versions of punk rock, metal, and indie-garage amateur attempts at, well caricature. But some people might appreciate the stuff on offer. And even if you hate every track, you should try it out to help those scientists who are trying to figure out how we decide what we like, how we rate it, how we act on our spoken …